Interview Process

Author: Taylie Shaw

When I was hired as a new teacher, the interview process was very short. I was hired after the school year had started so the administration was anxious to get someone hired. I went through one interview and then I was offered the job pending a background check. Once that cleared, I was in the classroom within two weeks. The principal and assistant principal both asked me questions that focused on how I was going to engage students in learning. During the process, I felt positives of the process were that the administration were straightforward and to the point. They also asked specific questions about my plans. The negative was that I was very nervous and feel like I left out a lot of what I had planned to say. Overall, the process was what you would expect of a hiring process.

As a principal, I would want to ensure that there are multiple opinions on the candidate. As an intern, I have been able to interview and hire new teachers. One of the biggest pieces of advice that I have received is that, when you can, have a hiring panel so you can get the advice of multiple people. My current principal says that they will go with their gut feeling, but it is important to have people you trust weigh in on those opinions. Also, the current district I work in has a very solid set of interview questions. Reflecting on my very first interview to become a teacher, I think the interview questions were more tailored towards my actual position and students, but the generic interview questions at my current school district are very broad. I personally like questions that are open ended and allow the candidate to speak to their abilities and what they can bring to the school. “Open-ended questions are used to explore topics in depth, to understand processes” (Weller et al, 2018, p. 2). I also think that principals must ask questions that are tailored to their specific school. Each principal is looking for someone that is going to enhance the school is some way. “It is considered that good school principals have great influence on positive outcomes of students by being strong communicators” (Balyer, 2014, p. 24). Principals need to be able to ask questions that allow for communication in order to learn about a potential new employee.

References

Balyer, A. (2014). School Principals’ Role Priorities. Journal of Theory & Practice in Education (JTPE), 10(1), 24–40.

Weller, S. C., Vickers, B., Bernard, H. R., Blackburn, A. M., Borgatti, S., Gravlee, C. C., & Johnson, J. C. (2018). Open-ended interview questions and saturation.13(6).